Key words
Economics.
Objectives
Of a social worker who puts himself (or herself) at the disposal of people and society, a certain insight is expected into how to deal with groups and individuals, and into societal organization and operation.
Human acts are partly determined by economic reasons: every citizen has a hundred and one needs, but only limited resources to satisfy those needs. This creates a certain amount of tension and induces the parties involved to behave rationally. It’s a harsh reality which we, as social workers, must face each and every day. As a social science, this training module examines the economic perspective to help explain human acts and thus forms a valuable complement to other social sciences that lie on standard educational route 1 of the training programme, e.g. Sociology and Psychology. Often, social workers perform a coordinating or oversight function in social welfare organizations, companies or government departments and they participate actively in the financial policy and management. Employers expect them to be capable of pursuing a sound financial policy and of mitigating or eliminating the tension between costs and benefits.
Last but not least, social workers should be able to diagnose societal problems, such as unemployment, poverty, globalization,… from a broader social (economic) sciences perspective, to consider them critically, take up standpoints on each problem and formulate possible solutions.
The purpose of this training module is to shape these objectives by fostering and developing the following core skills from the training profile:
Job-specific core skills
-1. Social workers’ vision in all they undertake is based on a broad-based insight into social reality.
Supporting subset skill:
- To integrate different evidence-based perspectives into your viewpoint on social situations and human behaviour.
-2. Social workers can systematically shape processes of social and community work (= social practice) in their respective task areas.
Supporting subset skill:
- To contribute actively towards the internal and external development and
marketing strategy of an organization (in the present case: help set an organization’s
administrative and financial policy).
-3. Social workers help develop, focus and promote their professional identity.
Supporting subset skill:
- To participate in the societal debate on social problems and their solutions.
The singularity of the profession and the set of values of Social Work bring fresh insights to the debate.
General core skills
General job core skills
-4. To be able, solutions-led and by oneself, to define and to analyse complex problem situations in occupational practice and to develop and to apply sound strategies for problem-solving.
A behavioural indicator to measure students’ grasp of this is to consider case studies and practical situations from several different perspectives.
-5. A sense of social responsibility, which is closely connected with occupational practice.
Supporting subset skill:
- To orient your behaviour based on a broad social commitment;
- To develop your own view on society.
A behavioural indicator to measure students’ grasp of this is how much interest they show in societal problems and societal trends.
This training module aims to impart comprehension of a few basic ( economic) concepts and reasoning power to the student, onto which a more specialized knowledge is then grafted (while following standard educational route 3), e.g. in the following training modules: “Management techniques for use in the social-profit sector” (specializations: Social Work and Socio-Cultural Work), “Business Economics” (specialization: HRM) and “Activation of employment’ (specialization: Social Counselling).
To diagnose societal problems, such as unemployment, poverty, globalization,…this training module also provides the (basic) economic knowledge needed and for that is, where possible, linked to the course contents of the training modules ‘Sociology’ and ‘History’ on standard educational route 1 of the training programme.
On standard educational route 2 this knowledge is added to, thematically, in the ‘Social Economics’ module and on standard educational route 3 – specialization Social Work to the optional subjects ’Deprivation’ and ‘ Job assistance and social employment’.
Topics
Economics Today 2008:
- Introduction;
- Consumers;
- Producers;
- Price-making;
- Macroeconomic indicators;
- National income and employment situation;
- Money, monetary policy and inflation;
- Trade cycle and economic growth;
- Government.
Prerequisites
Entry-level skills
Exit qualifications in secondary education
Final Objectives
Exit-level skills
The core skills from the training profile listed in the ‘objectives’ section are fully underpinned by the following exit-level skills of the training module:
At the level of knowledge and comprehension
The students:
- Accurately formulate micro-, meso- and macroeconomic notions and definitions;
- Explain, in their own words, the influence of government on different aspects of how modern society functions;
- Can define the relationships between the different economic phenomena.
At the application level - skills
The students:
- Can apply in practice what they’ve learned in economic theory;
- Have the capacity to consider critically and formulate possible solutions.
At the level of integration
The students:
- Are alive to topical matter;
- Can spot/inventory rising trends and look for patterns.
Materials used
::Click here for additional information::
Textbook: Economics Today 2008 (updated once a year) - obtainable from the coursewear department;
Dokeos: supporting texts and solutions to exercises.
Study costs
The estimated cost price is ca. 25.00 euros.
Study guidance
Group consultation by appointment;
Individual consultation (tutoring/monitoring) by appointment;
Contact details: item Lecturer(s).
Teaching Methods
Lectures with use of MS PowerPoint presentations;
Tutorial: exercises.
Assessment
An examination for this training module is scheduled in the exam period at the end of the semester in which you took this course.
A written examination (80% of the total marks) consisting of:
- multiple choice questions: 15% of the marks;
- open-ended questions: 50% of the marks;
- exercises: 15% of the marks.
The examination is on any part of the entire course content.
The total number of questions is limited to what can be got through comfortably within the allotted time for the exam.
Continuous assessment: practice tests (20 % of the total mark).
Resits
Provision is made for an analogous written exam (100%):
- multiple choice questions: 20% of the marks;
- exercises: 15% of the marks;
- open-ended questions: 65% of the marks.
Lecturer(s)
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